The MP for Bracknell has said it is an ‘incredibly difficult decision’ to scrap winter fuel payments for pensioners, as he confirms he will support the government’s plans in a Parliamentary vote tomorrow (September 10).

90 per cent of elderly residents in Bracknell are set to lose out on the yearly payment to help pay their energy bills if plans go ahead. Across the country, a payment of between £200 to £300 was paid to more than 10 million pensioners.

If approved, they will become means tested rather than universal in England and Wales.

In an interview with the News, Peter Swallow, recently elected as Bracknell’s first ever Labour MP, said it was ‘incredibly difficult’ and ‘not a decision that I or the government want to take’.

He blamed the £22 million ‘black hole’ inherited from the previous Conservative government for the proposed cut.

Mr Swallow added that it wasn’t something he would ‘ever choose to do’.

The MP explained: “I think it’s really important to say that we will be supporting pensioners with an uplift in state pension. That’s £900 this year and a further increase will be announced in the budget. And the government also extended the household support fund.”

The government also recently saw plans to set up GB Energy – a publicly owned energy company aimed to reduce prices of energy bills – approved by the House of Commons.

Mr Swallow said: “In the long term, the way we solve fuel poverty, not just for pensioners but actually for families across Bracknell Forest, is by reducing energy bills, and that will be done for by GB energy.”

The former MP for Bracknell, Conservative James Sunderland, said the plans to cut the fuel payments were 'cynical' and 'attack the poorest and most vulnerable in our community'.

It has also received opposition from neighbouring MP for Wokingham Clive Jones. The Liberal Democrat said that the plans were 'immoral'.

This comes as the government’s controversial plan to scrap winter fuel payments, first introduced in 1997, will be voted on by MPs tomorrow (September 10).

Prime Minister Keir Starmer may be facing a potential rebellion in the vote by some Labour MPs. A dozen Labour backbenchers have signed a motion calling on the government to delay implementing the winter fuel payment restrictions.

In August, CEO of Age Berkshire Fiona Price told the News that her organisation was 'absolutely inundated' with cost of living concerns. The organisation has pushed for a reversal of the plans, worrying about the 'knock on effect' that it may have on hospitals and other important services.